Lisa of Troy's Reviews > Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead

Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead is the second book in the Finlay Donovan series. In the first book, we have Finlay Donovan, an author, who was describing her plot to her agent in a crowded Panera. She details the life of a hired contract killer, only to find a message that one of the customers believes that Finlay is a real contract killer. At the very end of Book #1, Finlay receives a message requesting that she off her ex-husband. Book #2 involves Finlay Donovan doing some amateur detective work in a very non-subtle manner. She also has two dashing gentlemen actively pursuing her and constantly trying to get her in her birthday suit.

I’m going to be honest that I wasn’t that big of a fan of the first book. Finlay Donovan is extremely ditzy, and the book is so unrealistic. Everything is very easy with exactly perfect timing. Evidence is always laid out in plain sight. She has two children, but she never does much with them other than drop them off with other people and describing the children as messy, sticky, and dirty. This is definitely a cozy mystery, and I didn’t feel the suspense building. By the end of Book #2, I still have questions about Vero and the identity of one of the characters, and I’m one that likes a pretty clean ending.

All that being said, this book was really easy to read. The sentences and paragraphs are short. The prose is non-pretentious, and it was a nice, light-hearted read. The author also better be paid for product placement because she mentioned Fiat Chrysler Automobile vehicles so many times: a Dodge minivan, a Dodge Charger, a Jeep, and even an Alfa Romeo Spider. By the way, an Alfa Romeo Spider does not cost $100,000. It has an MSRP in the high $60,000’s (Troy is after all in the heart of Metro-Detroit, the Motor City). This book also might be labeled as aspirational fantasy. I mean hot cops are always stopping by my house just to check me out, right?

*Thanks, NetGalley, for a copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities

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